Gamebox 2.0: Games of July 2024
The heatwaves this summer made it a no brainer to sit in a cool room and play freshly released titles. We commanded battle mechs in Kriegsfront Tactics – Prologue, fought the BB Bang in Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero, completed a shift in Willy’s Wonderland and solved puzzles with an alien partner in DROS. Check out our reviews of what we played this month in the Gamebox 2.0.
Kriegsfront Tactics- Prologue (Zach): We played a bit of Kriegsfront Tactics at PAX East earlier this year, and Toge Productions released Kriegsfront Tactics – Prologue this month, which is a free “proof of concept” of what the whole game is going to be like. Set in an alternate 1970s featuring a Vietnam Waresque conflict in Southeast Asia fought with giant mechs, you control a squad of USC soldiers battling through the jungle against the Nusanesian forces.
The game is a turn-based, tactical game in the vein of X-Com or Battletech, where you have a certain number of actions for each squad member and must decide where and when to move and how to attack. You can use terrain like jungle to hide yourself and make it harder for the enemy to hit you, and you have a diverse squad with different abilities to keep track of. Some of the mechs can take tons of damage but are more suited for getting up in the enemy’s face with melee attacks, while others are sniper units that can strike from afar but can’t take too much punishment. If you’ve played tactics games like X-Com or Battletech before, there are actions like Overwatch that will be familiar and work how you expect in Kriegsfront Tactics.
One of the most fantastic features of the game is the amount of destructibility. Your weapons can burn and explode the terrain, and all of the mechs, yours and the enemy squads, can have limbs blown off, which can be a tactical move if you can blow off a limb of an enemy holding a weapon. If the main torso of a mech takes too much damage, the entire mech is destroyed. There’s a great sense of impact and heft to all the weaponry and the mechs, and you feel the impacts as bullets, metal fists, and rockets impact. The game has a cool retro-style graphic style that gives it a unique look compared to other games with a more realistic feel. This “prologue” is the first hour of gameplay and the story’s opening chapter, where you meet your squad and learn how each operates.
Along with the battles, there’s an overworld map where you progress to an objective and can choose different paths that could lead to valuable equipment but also put you in a tough battle. The mechs in your squad are fully customizable, and you can swap in legs, arms, weapons, and torsos how you see fit. If you’re into tactical strategy games, Kriegsfront Tactics – Prologue is worth checking out, especially because it’s free, and it’s a great way to get a taste of the game before the full release, which has yet to be announce a date.
Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero (Chris): A rare retro classic gets a fresh coat of paint in Ratalaika Games and Shinyuden’s Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero. Taking inspiration from TV shows like Super Sentai and platformers like Megaman, the Citizen Shockman has been a niche series of titles for gamers who enjoy campy humor and casual adventures. Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero was originally released in 1997 for the Super Famicom and was one of the few digital-only games downloaded by Satellaview, an online service. Now Ratalaika Games and Shinyuden have ported Zero to modern gaming consoles with a few modern upgrades for a new generation of gamers to get shocked.
The plot follows Raita and Azuki, two bionic warriors who transform into Shockman and Shockwoman to fight evil. On a peaceful day, the BB Gang suddenly begins a terrorizing spree in the city. Through their acts, the BB Gang has stolen the Gotokuji Engine, a device capable of powering up dangerous weaponry. Raita and Azuk suit up to stop the army of robotic foes and take down BB Gang’s mysterious leader.
One of the best parts about the Cyber Citizen Shockman series is its attempts to distance itself from the Megaman series by changing its combat mechanics in each game. The first game had melee combat that required the heroes to be up close to enemies to attack, the second game gave the characters range blasters, and the third game had more vehicle selections. Zero has a little more balance with combat still focusing on combo attacks with melee and including a small charge-up range attack. Raita and Azuki play slightly differently from one another. Raita is a brawler that unleashes a few combo jabs before a fiery uppercut. Azuki has a sword that stabs forward and ends with an upward slash. They both control the same in the end and share the exact main story, and the game can be played with co-op mode to give the BB Gang double trouble.
The levels aren’t very challenging to season players. You can easily tank hits and deal with most enemies on the stage, and be ready to take on the level boss with full health bar. The game rewards skilled players by letting them upgrade their health packs by racking up combo kills, but you will never feel totally overwhelmed when taking on multiple enemies. The occasional stray projectile will still give players something to look out for.
Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero has a lot of quirky charm that can make up for the short game experience. This game can run most players only an hour or less worth of game time. However, there are some options to tweak the game such as making enemies freeze the player when taking damage, freely allowing the player to use a super attack, and a gameplay rewind. Unlike previous Cyber Citizen Shockman releases, there is no gallery mode to showcase the development or history of the title.
This is a nostalgic ride for those who remember the original series, but even if you’re new to the Shockman titles, you’ll find something to enjoy. The graphics are vibrant, and the gameplay is as smooth. The characters are quirky, and the storyline is simple. The games have not taken themselves seriously and the translation of the Japanese humor carries over well. So if you’re looking for a new game to add to your retro collection, give Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero. Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero was released July 8th and is available for PS4/5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S and One.
Willy’s Wonderland (Zach): Three years after the movie, Willy’s Wonderland has gotten a beat ’em-up game from QuByte and Mito Games. Taking on the role of The Janitor (played by Nicolas Cage in the movie) or Liv (played by Emily Tosta in the film), you battle through the various areas of the abandoned family fun center Willy’s Wonderland, which happens to be the home of possessed, homicidal animatronics. You can choose from either of the two characters and then fight through the stages, working your way to a showdown with one of the animatronic bosses. Each character has punches and kicks that you can combine into combos, a rushing charge attack, and a hurricane spin that can damage all the enemies on screen. The rush and hurricane spin need to be charged after each use.
I wasn’t particularly a fan of the movie, and I’m not really a fan of the game as well. The opening stage is decently realized, but the game is ugly-looking and dated, using 3D models instead of retro-style sprites as many current beat-ups utilize. Neither of the main characters looks like their movie counterpart, and you’ll fight mostly the same “zombie” enemies on each stage, which gets boring incredibly quickly. The hit detection is also not great, as you have to be a specific distance away for punches or kicks to land. If you’re in too close, nothing will land. There’s also pretty much no context for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie outside of a vague, non-animated opening cutscene that doesn’t include any text or plot details. We’re in a golden age of beat-em-up games between Shredder’s Revenge, Streets of Rage 4, and upcoming releases like GI Joe: Wrath of Cobra, Toxic Crusaders, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind that offers gorgeous art, killer music, and tight gameplay. Even for its bargain price of $4.99 on Steam, Xbox, and Playstation, Willy’s Wonderland is a beat-em-up you can pass on.
DROS (Zach): Coming from RedDeer.Games and emergeWorlds, DROS is a fantasy adventure game that pulls in elements of games like The Legend of Zelda and Captain Toad. You play as a combination of characters: Captain, a human bounty hunter, and Little Dros, a gooey creature who needs a “shell” to survive. In a Venom-style situation, the pair reluctantly form a symbiotic relationship when Captain is almost killed trying to retrieve a bounty, the mind-controlling flute of The Alchemist, who threatens the world and operates out of a massive tower. The Alchemist also experiments on the Dros, turning them into weapons, and you’ll encounter all kinds of Dros enemies, from basic blobs to the massive “Drosnaughts” that guard the end of each world.
The gameplay feels a bit like classic Zelda, with the Captain wielding a sword and able to do a spin attack if you hold down the attack button. You can also block and sprint, but Captain cannot jump because of the weight of his armor. You can detach Little Dros at any time, and she can jump and go places Captain cannot, but Little Dros has no way to attack, so you have to be stealthy when the pair are separated. Combat is not particularly complex, but you can get overwhelmed by enemies if you are not careful, so you must utilize your block and attack appropriately. There are many clever puzzles involving detaching Little Dros and finding a switch or mechanism that will allow Captain to progress. One incredibly nice feature is that, when detached, you press a button to warp back to Captain instantly, so you don’t have to worry about finding your way back after solving a puzzle.
After completing the opening prologue chapter, the game is divided into sections of The Alchemist’s Tower. Each chapter has several levels leading to a battle with that area’s boss guardian. The levels are all diorama style, a la Captain Toad, where you can rotate around and look for secrets and collectibles. You gain abilities as you progress that help in exploration, like a zoom-out that lets you see even more of the stage. Each stage takes around 5 minutes to complete, and some involve just reaching the end elevator, but others will see you completing tasks for different characters before you progress. The game has a charming art style and character design, and you can find “lore” throughout each stage that will unlock information about the characters and world that is told in a terrific comic book-style way. If you’re looking for a fun adventure with lots of collectibles to find and puzzles to solve, definitely check out DROS, which is now on Nintendo Switch and Steam.
